Zen Attitude

Rei Shimura #2

by Sujata Massey

It's Tough to Keep Cool When the Heat Is On

Japanese-American Rei Shimura finally has a life to be proud of in Tokyo: running her own antiques business and living with her Scottish lawyer boyfreind. But when Rei overpays for a beautiful chest of drawers, she's in for the worst deal of her life. The con man who sold her the Tansu is found dead, and like it or not Rei's opened a pandora's box of mystery, theft, and murder.

Only Rei sees the Tansu as the key. It will take a quick wit, fast feet, and above all a Zen Attitude for Rei to discover what a young monk, a judo star, and an ancient scroll have in common, and why her own life hangs in the balance.

Genres: Mystery, Japan, Fiction, Crime, Asia, Mystery Thriller, Thriller

336 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

About the author

Sujata Massey is the author of historical and mystery fiction set in Asia. She is best known for the Perveen Mistry series published in the United States by Soho Press and in India by Penguin Random House India. In June, 2021, THE BOMBAY PRINCE, third book in the series, releases in the US/Canada and Australia/New Zealand; it will be published by Penguin India later the same month.

THE WIDOWS OF MALABAR HILL, the first Perveen novel, was named a Best Mystery/Thriller of 2018 and also an Amazon Best Mystery/Thriller of 2018. Additionally, the book won the Bruce Alexander Best Historical Mystery Award, the Agatha Award for Best Historical Mystery and the Mary Higgins Clark Award, all in 2019.

The second Perveen novel, THE SATAPUR MOONSTONE, won the Bruce Alexander Best Historical Mystery Award in 2020.

Sujata's other works include THE SLEEPING DICTIONARY (2013) and eleven Rei Shimura mysteries published from 1997-2014. For more about Sujata's books and a full events schedule, subscribe to her newsletter, http://sujatamassey.com/newsletter

Sujata lives in Baltimore, Maryland, with her family and two dogs. In addition to writing, she loves to travel, read, cook, garden and walk.

Reviews

[KOMET · Rating 4 out of 5]

An utterly satisfying, entertaining, and well-crafted mystery novel set in late 1990s Japan. Rei Shimura, Japanese-American, a young, enterprising and adventurous antiques dealer and trader manages to acquire -- after considerable bargaining -- a "tansu", an ancient type of chest from the Edo Period much prized and valued. This proves to be a fateful decision, taking Rei down a path involving murder, theft, brushes with the police, and deceit.

[Micha Goebig · Rating 2 out of 5]

The author is a very good writer, but I stopped reading the book because I grew more and more annoyed with the protagonist.
First off, she doesn't have even a hint of a sense of humor and is always whining and complaining about everything. And though she herself is pretty young and - in typical US West Coast fashion - absolutely underdressed about 80% of the time, she is so ultra-conservative that she can't deal at all with her boyfriend's visiting younger brother who is a little hippie and currently traveling the world. Pretty normal stuff for a gap year. I put the book away when I hit the scene (around page 120) when she goes full out Nancy Reagan because he bakes some hashish brownies and one of her party guests falls unconscious eating them. That utter nonsense just did it for me - though it's a pity: I was interested in the case and the cultural background. But this protagonist doesn't work for me.

[Robyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another hit for Sujata Massey! I love Rei Shimura and her love interest Hugh, although I wasn't crazy about his brother the spoiled brat Angus and wish Hugh would have been more supportive of Rei's concerns. But in the end, it all worked out!

Rei has taken Hugh's advice and moved in as well as starting her own business at the advice of Joe. She is doing ok when she is asked to find a chest from a certain period. Using all of her skills to find antiques, Rei hunts down a great chest and purchases it, but way over her budget. CRAP it turns out to be a fake. By the time she discovers this, she also discovers his dead body! The book weaves around to hash brownies, a Zen Monastery, and an antique scroll that might be priceless.

This is a great read that is light and airy as well as educational. So far, I have to say really worth the read.

4 stars

Happy Reading!

[Marie-Therese · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars.

Much better than the first book in this series! This volume is lively and well-paced, with an interesting (if somewhat improbable) plot and nicely drawn characters. Rei Shimura, the Japanese-American antiques dealer protagonist, is so much more engaging now that her obligatory back story is out of the way; I'm looking forward to watching her mature as a woman and a detective. I'm really glad I continued on with this series and am planning to jump right into volume 3.

[Jan Lehman]

Fun read

My first book in this series, I found it to be entertaining and easy to read. The exposure it brings to the Japanese culture was very interesting. That being said I much prefer her new series set in India, the stories are deeper and richer in content and construction. I very much enjoy all the books written by this author

[Brycen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this author. Her books are really interesting. This is definitely a fun read if you like Mysteries and/or Japanese culture.

[Gateway_to_Wonderland · Rating 3 out of 5]

Matkani Rei Shimuran kanssa jatkuu tässä kirjasarjan 2. osassa.

Täytyy sanoa, että pidin edellisestä osasta enemmän. Tämä oli kyllä ihan hyvä, mutta ajoittain juoni hieman, paremman sanan puutteessa, jahkaava. Sinänsä tarina eteni, mutta ajoittain se jäi tallomaan vettä. Parhaiten ehkä asiaa kuvaa se, että tapahtumat saavat kunnon sysäyksen eteenpäin vasta sivulla 100. Mutta toisaalta se oli hieman edellisen osankin kanssa 🤔

Kirjan käännösnimi myös hämäsi, sillä varsinainen arvoitus ei liittynyt temppeliin vaan Rein ostamaan antiikkiesineeseen. Alkuperäinen nimi Zen Attitude puolestaan sopi kirjan teemaan paremmin kuin hyvin.

Suosittelen tätä kirjaa kaikille, joita Japani, historia, dekkarit ja romanttiset sivujuonet kiinnostavat 😊

[Anu-vinkkari · Rating 3 out of 5]

No niin, saimpas luettua. Tää on ollut to do -listalla varmaan pari vuotta, ystävän vinkkauksen jäljiltä. Miljöö (japani) kiinnosti kovasti ja tämä kuulemma edusti juuri sitä mun suosimaa keveämpää dekkarigenreä, ilman rikollisen mielen syväluotausta, verta ja suolenpätkiä.
Ja kyllä, ihan viihdyttävää lomalukemista. Simppeli dekkarijuoni, ihan ok henkilöt ja kiehtovia kurkistuksia japanilaiseen kulttuuriin. Saatan kyllä lukea pari muutakin osaa joskus kun on aikaa.

[John Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Its been a while since I read The Salarymans Wife, the first in this series. Perhaps that was too long ago as I think that I had the main character Rei Shimura confused with someone else.

I have previously had a moan about the TV or Film casting of a character in a story that I have read, but here, it would have been a help as I still do not have a clear enough picture of Rei , this Japanese/American antique finder.

Looking back on the book, I suppose it had a good storyline but during the reading I felt confused about some of the characters and rather than trying to follow/understand them at the time, I let it drift over me.

For me the story fell down because it seemed to be more about Rei's relationship with Hugh rather than the mysteries uncovered. On the plus side, I did like the description of parts of Tokyo and Kamakura that I know. I am pleased to report that on a Sunday morning visit to Yoyogi park, some 15 years after the book was written, the Elvis Impersonators were still a well-attended crowd pleaser.

Will I continue the series? Lets say that the Jury is out.

[Libby · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like this author, so I will basically read anything she writes. Her characters are fun and smart. Rei Shimura is a bit scattered and insecure at times ( as opposed the Perveen Mistry) but they are both good characters that are persistent in their efforts to do the right thing. I like Hugh a lot and hope she doesn’t drive him away.

[Jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

This series juggles several enticing things: the Japanese antiques market; the difficulties of negotiating Japanese culture as an outsider; and a hot romance. Woven into this mix is a tricky mystery involving a zen monastery, some pot brownies and a scroll that everyone wants to get their hands on.

[Lorne Strachan · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this second book in the Rei Shimura series, Rei has moved in with her Scottish lawyer lover. His luxurious apartment is in one of the best neighbourhoods of Tokyo and the opposite of her former home in the same city. She has gone from struggling English teacher to running her own antiques business but she stubbornly insists on maintaining her independence and earning her own money. When she is manipulated into overpaying for a chest of drawers known as a ‘Tansu’ for a wealthy client, she’s afraid she’s just made a mistake that will ruin her reputation and bankrupt her fledgling business. It also gets her involved in a murderous mystery when the con man who sold her the chest is found dead. Rei sees the Tansu as the key especially when she finds an ancient scroll in a hidden compartment.

A martial artist, a young monk, a ZEN study group, her lover’s younger brother, a Japanese ‘Elvis’ and her elderly antiques mentor all become part of Rei's search for the killer. Of course lives are in danger because the ancient scroll may be valuable. Finding her independence threatened and her relationship suffering, she leaves home to try to fix her problems and ends up living in an old teahouse on grounds of a famous Zen temple and attempting to learn the practice herself.

The character of Rei is interesting because she manages to be irritating and simultaneously very likeable. Being relatively new to Japan herself she helps the reader learn about Japan, its language and interesting customs. I assume the intended audience is mostly young adult females but I’m old and male and I found this book and its characters to be entertaining and well written. Even if it’s light and improbable here and there, the plot is complex and the settings are evocatively described. It’s entertaining and easily digestible too so, if you find yourself grinding your teeth on the grit and gloom of one too many Scandi-noir thrillers, a book like Zen Attitude may just the pick-me-up you need.

[Rob Kitchin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Zen Attitude is the second book in the Rei Shimura series about an antiques dealer who plays amateur detective, without necessarily meaning to. Rei drifts into the investigation more to clean up a mess and save face than to solve any crime and her style of detection is the blundering outsider-insider (a mixed race Japanese-American) amateur who pokes and prods and has misadventures while hoping some useful clues will emerge and the case gets solved. All while trying to deal with a relationship in crisis as her boyfriend’s chaotic brother moves in with them. Massey tells the tale in the first person, giving some warmth and humour to the main character. The story is reasonably engaging and it trips along in a bumbling manner from one event to the next. But as it proceeds it becomes increasingly farcical, held together by a series of plot devices – forgetfulness, coincidence, fortunate blundering – many lacking credibility (the bit with the cigarette paper was particular hollow and the lack of recrimination baffling). The result was a light-hearted, whimsical tale that had a few too many holes in it.

[Bonnie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rei Shimura is half American and half Japanese and lives in Tokyo. She was born in America and recently moved to Japan where she started out teaching English classes, but has recently started her own antique business. She lives with her Scottish lawyer boyfriend in a deluxe apartment. When Rei overpays for a beautiful chest of drawers for a client, she's in for the worst deal of her life. The con man who sold her the tansu is found dead and Rei is headed for a Pandora's box of mystery, theft, and murder.

Only Rei sees the tansu as the key. It will take a quick wit and a Zen attitude for Rei to discover what a young monk, a judo star, and an ancient scroll have in common.

Sujata Massey is an excellent guide for the streets of Japan. She uses historical facts, acute observations, and delineated characters to flesh out of story.

[Chaitra · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm not sure I've encountered a fictional character I've loathed as much as I loathe Rei. At least, not in the past year or so. And it's not just her, it's the people around her who are horrible as well. I don't know. Maybe she attracts unpalatable people. Normally, I'd have DNFed it as soon as I started and realized how much I wasn't enjoying this, but for my sins, I needed to read this particular book. So I sped through both books, and now I'm so glad I don't have to read about Rei anymore.

[Brendan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little goofy, filled with interesting details, and gentle with its reader. It reminded me of spending hours plowing through paperback mysteries when I was a teenager, which makes sense, given its publication date. I do hope the protagonist becomes more of a competent detective as the series progresses. Bonus points for the denouement reference to Massive Attack.

[Cami · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really fun read with interesting information on japanese antique furniture and scrolls as well as Zen temple worship.
Rei gets herself into some real danger and doesn't know who to trust and her relationship with Hugh is hanging by a thread.

[Mari-Liis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tohutult põnev jaapani kriminull, mida ei saa käest ära panna. Humoorikas ja ladusalt kirjutatud. Pakub kindlasti huvi kõigile, kellel soov jaapani kultuurist rohkem teada saada.

[Leslie Ferrari · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very engaging. The author lived in in Japan for a time which I suspect gives authenticity to the setting. The resolution was not evident which is always a plus.

[Katheyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Zen Attitude”, the second installment in the “Rei Shimura Mystery” series, follows Rei as she tries to launch her own antiquities business in Tokyo, life is looking up: Rei has moved with Hugh Glendenning, her Scottish boyfriend, who works for a renowned law firm who also provides very suitable accommodation in Roppongi, in an apartment building who caters mostly to foreigners (which allows Massey to let flow some very critical observations about foreigner’s view on the country into the action).

Rei has just agreed to buy a tansu (chess drawer) as an assignment for Nana Mihori and even if she is already having mixed feelings about it, she goes through as Nana Mihori can be a very important client to add to her business. Rei disregards her intuition and buys the tansu and discovers that is a counterfeit, but as she tracks the buyer, he is already death and Rei in the middle on her next mystery. By putting the clues together, Rei eventually finds the links between the tansu, an ancient scroll and a Zen temple, ends up on the run, hiding away in Mihori’s property and putting her own relationship with Hugh under strain. It’s a witty, fast-paced plot, that keeps turning on a dime, until the very end.

Sujata Massey’s “Rei Shimura” is a mystery series featuring the eponymous character, an American Japanese woman in her late twenties (at the start of the series) who relocates to Tokyo to reembrace her Japanese roots and start an antiquities business. The books mix classical sleuth mystery, with Japanese cultural observation and biographical bits, into a nice, easy to read and fully enjoyable series. Some mysteries remind the classical clean mysteries of old, while other (especially on the later books) deal with very serious historical events, but in each case the stories remain easy-to-read mysteries with Japanese flavour. While an in-depth study into Japanese culture, should not be expected, the books offer a very credible insight into Japanese everyday life, from the point of view of American foreigner with the added bonus of having a real Japanese heritage, that allows her to blend in and navigate the country with credible ease. Every book in the series can be read as a stand-alone from the mystery point of view, as the arc-story only pertains to Rei Shimura chronological development.

Massey, a London born, who has herself a mixed Indian-German heritage and has expended (due to her own husband work) several year in Japan, excels by interweave her own biographical data with fictional bit into one of the most original and interesting series in the genre. Rei Shimura’s character development and her reflections on the country evolve organically with the experiences in the country. Sujata Massey succeeds in showing the changes in Rei’s personality and reflections to the environment. A must-read for all fans of female slaughtering and/or ‘light’ Japanese culture.

[Elkie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Summary: American-born Rei Shimura is living in Japan, struggling to get her antiques business off the ground. She works as a broker, hunting down requested pieces for Japanese clients. She just received a request from the prominent Nana Mihori to find a particular tansu, a chest of drawers with very specific styling. Nana has a lot of influence in town and if Rei can pull this job off, she will have many referrals for future jobs.

She works out of her home, which she shares with her Scottish, international lawyer, boyfriend, Hugh. Her already cluttered home is invaded by Hugh’s carefree, careless and messy brother, Angus. This throws her life with Hugh into turmoil and begins to wear on their relationship.

Nana Mihori directs Rei to a particular shop where she said a friend saw a tansu like she is looking for. Once she gets there, Rei finds herself in a bidding war with another customer. She wins, but at great personal cost — after all, Nana hasn’t paid her yet.

After the tansu is delivered to her home, Rei finds previously unnoticed flaws and realizes this tansu is a fake. She tries to return it but the seller has vanished. Then he turns up dead. Evidence begins to pile up that sends Rei on the run with no one to turn to except people she doesn’t trust.

Comments: I’ve wanted to read more in this series for almost fifteen years. During the first incarnation of The Brown Bookloft, publicists sent me hard copies of books, usually surprises based on my genre preferences. In one batch was the first book in this series, The Salaryman’s Wife. It was one of those rare books that stuck with me, leaving me want to read more by Sujata Massey.

I admit I forgot about it until the author published the well-received book The Widows of Malabar Hill., which I read and liked very much. I began hunting through over a dozen used book stores in two states trying to find a copy of Zen Attitude. I finally purchased one online through Thrift Books.

Zen Attitude has a few rough edges, particularly in its characters. There was a lot of unnecessary angst and mercurial relationship swings, but the writing was rock solid. It was the quality of the writing and the setting in Japan that most appealed to me in The Salaryman’s Wife. I found that I enjoyed both of those just as much in book number 2. I have already ordered the third book, The Flower Master.

Recommended for Mystery readers and anyone who likes books set in modern Japan.

My rating: 3.75 STARS

[Yarslov · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have to remind myself that this book was written in the 90s and technology like we are used to was not around. I was born in the 90s but a kid in the 90s is way different than being an adult in the 90s.
Moving on!

I had some trouble with Rei with this book. She and Hugh are living together but she feels so guilty that SHE isn't contributing much financial wise. She has said things in book one and carries on here that she wants to be financially successful all by herself. She has trouble communicating with Hugh about her feelings and because of that, they almost break up. Communication problems always gets my goat!

Rei buys a Tansu for a client, gets in a bidding way, wins but pays WAY too much. Later she discovers that the Tansu wasn't from the correct time period and thus the beginning of murder, theft, forgery and her life on the line.

I enjoy reading for the culture, but Rei got under my skin in this one.
One thing though, I was 100% with her on regarding Hugh's brother Angus: he was a punk that put a wedge between her and Hugh.

[Warren Fretwell · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book since Rei Shimura #1 was so good. However, this one was often unbelievable verging on the nonsensical.

Rei is once again in Japan acting as an antique dealer mostly out of her boyfriend's (Hugh Glenndenning) apartment. She gets caught up in mystery about an ancient scroll that was hidden in a "tansu" (cabinet with drawers) she obtained for a client that leads to murders and intrigue. All of this is complicated by the arrival of Hugh's hippie-dippy (with an emphasis on dippy) younger brother, for whom he is willing to drop everything--including attentions to the love of his life, Rei--and we get steered around a maze that becomes harder and harder to buy into.

Quite honestly, I wasn't buying, but I forced myself to finish the book. I shouldn't have.

Maybe Massey finds the magic in #3. She lost it in this installment!

[Jan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading all of these books out of sequence, I buy them when I can find them. This is book number 2. Rei, who's mother is Anglo American and father who is Japanes, is living with her Scottish boyfriend Huge in Japan. Rei is an antique dealer. Her boyfriends obnoxious brother comes to stay, and at first they do not get along at all. Rei was raised in California, but she loves Japan.

Rei finds she has spent all of her monies on some art, that she believes is now a fake, and it goes from bad to worse. Including leaving Hugh, living out in the woods, and trying to find out why she is mixed up with killings, fake scrolls, and why someone is trying to kill her.

Another interesting read from Ms. Massey

[Ez · Rating 2 out of 5]

Again, Massey’s character writing is preeeeetty atrocious. Just…no human beings behave like this! And to make the matters worse, the protagonist is probably the most illogical of them all. For instance (to give a non-spoilery example): who the HECK leaves their apartment by jumping to the neighbor’s balcony just because they had a minor row with their boyfriend?? The romance subplot in general is just… NO.

I mean, I don’t require all murder mysteries to be realistic but some degree of psychological realism would be nice. Then again, I guess the lack of it makes it easier to create twists where characters portrayed as evil turn out to be innocent and vice versa…

So, if you like the kind of stories where the plot always trumps character continuity in the end, this series might be fun for you. (And you might like the final season of Game of Thrones maybe?) But I won’t be continuing any further with this.

Gosh, how I miss Kamakura and Tokyo, though!

[Kara-karina · Rating 4 out of 5]

The year is 1987 with pagers and first very expensive "mobile" phones, and I am enjoying this old mystery read just as much as the first book in series.

Really and truly, this would have been an ideal vintage detective series based in Japan. Unhurried, with very interesting characters, both supportive and main, full of authenticity and colour. What's not to like?

Rei Shimura is human, fragile and prone to many mistakes but she is stubborn enough to dig until all the mysteries are uncovered. Her identity as an antiques dealer works extremely well with her inquisitive character.

This was exquisite on audio, and while each book can be read as a standalone, I am happy that there are more books in series as I am hoping to read it to the end.

Much recommended.

[Alton Motobu · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is such a cozy, comfortable and soothing mystery that it took me over a week to finish because I fell asleep every time I got through about 20 pages. Rei is a sweet and pleasant woman, trying to run an antiques business in Japan, who does not want to offend or antagonize anyone (except her devoted boyfriend Hugh). She gets caught up in an internal family squabble over an antique scroll, and two men are murdered. Much of the action takes place in a Buddhist monastery, and Rei goes undercover as a monk (but without wearing any underwear!) to find out what is going on behind the scenes. Some very hilarious scenes if you are familiar with Japanese people.

[Sanna · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tämä oli jotenkin tosi raskas kirja lukea. Rei oli ärsyttävän oloinen tässä. Taas hän puhui muista naisista jokseenkin vähättelevään sävyyn. Hänen asenteensa Hughin elämäntapaan ja asuntoon oli rasittava, Rei korosti omaa pienellä selviämistään ja "köyhää" elämäänsä samalla kun nautti täysin rinnoin Hughin kanssa seurustelun tuomasta edusta ja elitismistä. Kirjan rikostarina oli hieman epäuskottava.
Näissä kirjoissa kiinnostavinta on ehdottomasti Japani ja kaikki siihen liittyvä, sekä Rein tietämys japanilaisesta antiikista, josta ainakin itse olisin ehdottomasti halunnut lukea lisää. Enemmän antiikkia ja vähemmän löyhää rikostarinaa, kiitos!

[Viva · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my 2nd Rei Shimura book which I'm reading out of order. In this book, Rei is in Japan where she is having trouble with Hugh, her Scottish boyfriend due to his brother crashing at their apartment. Meanwhile, a tansu she has bought for a client isn't what it's supposed to be.

I like the Rei books mainly for her life drama, the Japanese background and the Japanese antique plotlines. The mystery part of the book is only OK for me and some of the stuff doesn't really make sense.

Having said that, I really enjoyed this book and I'm on my next Rei adventure already.

[Mi Ra · Rating 1 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this serie. On the paper, a mystery with a Japanese American as a main character, trying to find her place in the world? Sounds good. But alas, Rei is very unlikeable and she is the main character so I can't ignore her. She is highly self centered, ungrateful, "entitled" (I usually don't like this word but Rei fits here) and has excessively dramatic reactions. I wasn't expected a literary piece, just a light easy read but Rei was so annoying, I couldn't focus on the story.